Posted By:
HankronThere are a variety of answers to Kevin's question.
First, realize that collecting is in part emotional and subjective-- and there's nothing wrong with that. Collecting isn't doing your taxes and or a physics problem, it is (often) paying good money for something that touches the collectors heart. To expect a hobby's rules to be entirely objective, is a mistake.
To collectors of baseball cards, the word 'vintage' is very important. If someone is collecting something from the 1950s, they don't want a 1980s reprint no matter how good it looks. A 1950s card that is cut in 1999 is not entirely 'vintage' (perhaps 95 percent vintqage, which is a lot but still less than 100 percent vintage) and, thus, it should be expected to leave a bad taste in the collector's mouth.
The card is not entirely original. While the sheet itself is original (made in, say 1954,) the final required act of production, and one that is neccesary in making the single card, was not done until 1999. ... For this same reason, Roy Huffs items are falsely call 'original', because they (the single card-like pictures) were not actually created until recently. The Reach Guide Huff owned is original, but the little 'cards' he creates from the pages are not.
These modern cut cards are rarely advertised a 'a 1954 Bowman that I cut from a sheet last Tuesday.' They are advertized as '1954 Bowmans.' If there's one thing that turns off most collectors, it's liars and people who are insincere in their advertising.
Lastly, if 'cut from sheets' gain wide acceptance, you can bet that every other trimmed card on eBay will be advertized as 'cut from sheet.'